ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Jerry Porter spent most of his first five
NFL seasons playing behind stars Jerry Rice and Tim Brown,
patiently waiting for a chance to be the Oakland Raiders' top
receiver.
Now Rice and Brown are gone, but Randy Moss is bringing his
incredible talents to town -- and Porter is thrilled.
Just before Porter finalized his new contract with Oakland last
week, his agent told him Moss might be on his way to the Raiders in
a trade. Signing the deal suddenly became that much sweeter.
"We became powerful real quick. I love it," Porter said.
"That was a great move to get Randy Moss."
The Raiders' acquisition of Moss in a trade with the Minnesota
Vikings probably will be announced Wednesday, when the NFL's
free-agency period opens. The swap calls for Oakland to send
linebacker Napoleon Harris, the No. 7 pick in April's draft and a
late-round pick to the Vikings.
"Not taking anything from Napoleon Harris, but to only have to
give up a draft pick and a linebacker, linebackers don't score
points," Porter said.
Porter knows that having Moss on the field -- making acrobatic
catches, speeding past defenders and drawing double-teams -- will
only open up more opportunities for him to shine. The rest of the
Raiders feel the same way, envisioning a dangerous long-passing
offense to rival the great Oakland teams of years past.
Late last season, quarterback Kerry Collins campaigned for the
Raiders to re-sign Porter, saying it would be one of the team's
most important offseason decisions, but also grabbing Moss was more
than he could have hoped for.
"At this point, I put our receiving corps up against anybody's
in the league," Collins said Tuesday. "Obviously, the addition of
Randy scares defenses more than any other in the NFL.
"I heard rumors for a couple weeks. You hear things like that
all the time. You don't really know until something like that
materializes. You don't think a guy like Randy Moss A, would get
away from a team and B, would come to your team. I'm getting one of
the best receivers in the league and a guy whose track record
speaks for itself. He adds an unbelievable dimension for us from a
deep-threat standpoint. He's a guy who can do it all."
Moss spent much of last season limited by a hamstring injury and
didn't reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his
seven-year career. He finished with 49 catches for 767 yards and 13
touchdowns.
Porter led the Raiders with 64 catches for 998 yards and nine
touchdowns, falling just short of his first 1,000-yard season. His
receptions were a career high, and he scored three touchdowns in a
game twice.
The Raiders' second-round draft pick in 2000 out of West
Virginia, Porter wanted to be showcased in new coach Norv Turner's
offense during his contract year. It eventually happened.
"I can play alongside people and not have a conflict," Porter
said. "I'm used to that. As long as Randy can do that, we'll be
fine. If he can deal with not getting his 95 balls he's accustomed
to getting. I want to win."
Moss' often bizarre behavior has been considered distracting
over the years, but Raiders tight end Teyo Johnson isn't concerned.
"Randy Moss is one of the elements, if not the element, for us
being a playoff team," Johnson said. "All I care about is winning
football games, and Randy Moss can do that. You can put aside all
the other things people say about him, people say he has a bad
attitude. I don't care. The guy can play football and make plays.
He fits the Raiders mystique.
"He can easily step into a leadership role on our squad. He can
really feed off the energy Coach Turner has started here."
While Moss will upgrade Oakland's offense in a hurry, running
back Tyrone Wheatley cautions that there's still plenty for this
franchise to fix. The Raiders went 5-11 last season under Turner,
only one victory more than their 4-12 finish the year before, which
came on the heels of their 48-21 Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay -- the
worst collapse by a team that played for the title the previous
year.
"Just because you add a Randy Moss doesn't mean an organization
is going to great depths to turn things around," Wheatley said.
"If Randy can come in and blend in with 52 other players and play
great football as we know he can play, then yeah, the Raiders are
down the right path.
"There's a lot more to it than just Randy, but he helps."